Police arrest man for secretly videotaping women in home

WASHINGTON – Howard County police arrested a man who allegedly used a video camera to secretly record several women in their homes. The arrest was made less than a day after police released footage of the man to the public.

Michael McKenny, 42, of Columbia, Md. was charged with several counts of burglary, visual surveillance with a prurient intent and videotaping a person in a private residence without consent. He is being held on a $100,000 bond.

Two women in their 20s recently found McKenny’s video camera hidden in their Ellicott City, Md. condominium. Police say has used the camera to record them in their bathroom and bedrooms since June.

Police say they do not think McKenny works for either the condominium community or a contractor, and he likely knew the victims.

“Investigators believe that he knew both of these women, and in fact had stolen and copied a key to their residence,” says Howard County Police spokeswoman Sherry Lewellyn. “With that key he was able to get in and out of the condo with no forced entry.”

Lewellyn says McKenny returned to the condo several times to change the location of the camera and recorded himself in the process.

“He actually captured images of himself, placing the camera and manipulating it, taking it in and out of the condominium,” Lewellyn says.

The camera was discovered by one of the victims who found it concealed in her closet. On Thursday, police made the images of McKenny available to the public, and he was subsequently identified.

The video also contained footage of two other women who live in a separate residence. Those two women have now been identified, but Lewellyn would not say where the victims were recorded because the women are still being notified about the video.

Investigators are now trying to figure out if more women were targeted.

“We certainly are asking people who have any information about Mr. McKenny or any women who may think they’ve been victimized to contact police,” Lewellyn says.